Water consumption by the Agriculture industry was 6,987 GL in 2009–10 (table below), accounting for 52%of total water consumption in Australia during that period. Water consumption varied between crops and between States and Territories. New South Wales had the highest water consumption for the Agriculture industry in 2009–10, with 2,127 GL or 30% of total agricultural water consumption (graph below), followed by Queensland (1,928 GL or 28%) and Victoria (1,553 GL or 22%).

WATER CONSUMPTION (a), Agriculture industry—2008–09 and 2009–10

In 2009–10, the Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming industry group had the highest water consumption within the Agriculture industry, with 2,649 GL (or 38%). This was followed by Other crop growing (1,409 GL or 20%), Dairy cattle farming (1,216 GL or 17%) and Fruit and tree nut growing (1,116 GL or 16%) (see table below).

The largest decrease in water consumption between 2008–09 and 2009–10 within these industry groups was for Other crop growing (a 26% decrease, from 1,901 GL to 1,409 GL), while the largest increase in consumption was for Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming (a 22% increase, from 2,177 GL to 2,649 GL).

The majority of the water consumed by the Agriculture industry in 2009–10 was distributed water (3,647 GL or 52%) and self-extracted water (3,215 GL or 46%), with reuse water (126 GL or 2%) accounting for the remainder.

The highest self-extracted water consumption within the Agriculture industry in 2009–10 was by Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming (1,339 GL) and in Other crop growing (631 GL) (graph and table below). The industry groups that consumed more distributed water than self-extracted water included Nursery and floriculture production, Fruit and tree nut growing, Other crop growing, Dairy cattle farming and Deer farming.

WATER CONSUMPTION, Agriculture industry (a), by water type (b)—2009–10

WATER CONSUMPTION, Agriculture industry - by water type (a)—2009–10

Self-extracted

Distributed

Reuse

Total

ML

ML

ML

ML

Nursery and floriculture production

23 333

32 838

4 385

60 555

Mushroom and vegetable growing

283 952

139 746

15 361

439 059

Fruit and tree nut growing

327 075

777 709

11 098

1 115 883

Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming

1 339 271

1 255 805

53 553

2 648 630

Other crop growing

630 587

759 299

19 303

1 409 189

Dairy cattle farming

551 353

644 096

20 229

1 215 678

Poultry farming

np

9 703

np

16 644

Deer farming

np

350

np

574

Other livestock farming

51 984

26 966

2 172

81 122

Total

3 214 660

3 646 514

126 160

6 987 334

(a) Excludes water consumption by businesses conducting agricultural activities where agriculture is not the business’ main activity. See Explanatory Note 27 for more details. np Not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated.

Distributed water consumption (3,647 GL) was slightly higher than self-extracted water consumption (3,215 GL) for the Agriculture industry in Australia in 2009–10. New South Wales had the highest distributed consumption (1,213 GL) of any state, followed by Victoria (1,161 GL) and Queensland (1,002 GL) (graph below).

Queensland (915 GL) had the highest self-extracted water consumption, followed by New South Wales (860 GL) and South Australia (563 GL) (see table below).

WATER CONSUMPTION, Agriculture industry (a), by water type—2009–10

WATER CONSUMPTION (a), Agriculture industry - by water type—2008–09 and 2009–10

AUSTRALIA

STATE AND TERRITORY 2009–10

2008–09

2009–10

NSW

Vic.

Qld

SA

WA

Tas.

NT

ACT

ML

ML

ML

ML

ML

ML

ML

ML

ML

ML

Self-extracted

3 625 895

3 214 660

859 646

357 370

915 351

563 338

206 613

263 164

48 785

393

Distributed

3 267 240

3 646 514

1 213 159

1 161 164

1 002 336

135 745

112 237

21 286

497

91

Reuse

102 645

126 160

54 550

34 015

10 056

21 269

4 932

1 311

7

21

Total

6 995 781

6 987 334

2 127 355

1 552 549

1 927 744

720 351

323 782

285 761

49 288

504

(a) Excludes water consumption by businesses conducting agricultural activities where agriculture is not the business’ main activity. See Explanatory Note 27 for more details.

Reuse water consumption by the Agriculture industry in 2009–10 was 126 GL or 1.8% of total water consumption by the industry (table above). This was an increase of 23% from the amount of reuse water consumed by the industry in 2008–09. This increase was driven by increases in New South Wales (from 33 GL to 55 GL, or 67%) and Victoria (from 29 GL to 34 GL or 17%). These two states consumed more reuse water than any other state in 2009–10. The Australian Capital Territory (4%) and South Australia (3%) had the highest reuse consumption as a proportion of their respective total water consumption. Note that consumption of reuse water by the Agriculture industry includes water from regional reuse schemes, but does not include on-farm reuse or recycling.

The highest consumption of reuse water within the Agriculture industry in 2009–10 was by Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming (54 GL), Dairy cattle farming (20 GL), Other crop growing (19 GL) and Mushroom and vegetable growing (15 GL) (see graph below). The largest increase in the consumption of reuse water within these industry groups from 2008–09 to 2009–10 was in the Sheep, beef cattle and grain farming group (from 24 GL to 54 GL).

REUSE WATER CONSUMPTION, Agriculture industry (a)—2008–09 and 2009–10

Origin of Water

The majority of water consumption by the Agriculture industry in 2009–10 originated from surface water (65%), while groundwater accounted for 33% (table below). The States and Territories with the largest percentage of water consumption extracted from groundwater sources were Northern Territory (65%), South Australia (60%) and Western Australia (44%). Surface water accounted for a large percentage of agricultural water consumption in Tasmania (89%), Victoria (74%), the Australian Capital Territory (72%) and Queensland (72%).

ORIGIN OF AGRICULTURAL WATER—2009–10

Surface water

Groundwater

Reuse

Total all sources(a)

%

%

%

ML

NSW

62.1

35.3

2.6

2 127 355

Vic.

74.5

23.3

2.2

1 552 549

Qld

71.7

27.7

0.5

1 927 744

SA

37.1

59.9

3.0

720 351

WA

54.9

43.6

1.5

323 782

Tas.

89.3

10.2

0.5

285 761

NT

34.8

65.2

-

49 288

ACT

71.7

24.2

4.1

504

Aust.

65.5

32.7

1.8

6 987 334

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

(a) Excludes water use by businesses conducting agricultural activities where agriculture is not the business’ main activity. See Explanatory Note 27 for more details.